Treeleaf
by Heriu
Summary: My own little version of Redwall.
1. Default Chapter

Treeleaf  
  
A tale of Redwall  
  
At Redwall, Abbot Mordalfus was resting peacefully in the gatehouse, being tired after the Abbot's feast. He had forgotten he had promised the dibbuns a story after the feast. Of course, being dibbuns, they decided to go to him. He was startled when he woke to a group of dibbuns just sitting around him. Then he remembered. "Well, well. I promised you a story, didn't I? Well then listen closely. I will tell a tale of your grandmouse, Treeleaf," said the abbot to a now wide-eyed group of dibbuns.  
Chapter 1  
  
Out on the open sea, the ship Darkwake had just taken 50 more oar-slaves for the galleys. They were found upon a lost home-built raft that was practically destroyed. Those oar-slaves included a mouse named Treeleaf, who had promised herself to save all the oar-slaves. The next day, the oar- slaves were awoken by a bump that shook the entire ship. They had docked in at Death Island, the home of all the sea faring vermin. While the crew went to their huts, the captains had to report to Saucony, ruler of Death Castle, Death Island, and all of the ships crew and captains. Down at the ship that had taken Treeleaf, she had started to saw at the restraining ropes on her and her partner with a knife she had taken from a searat while he was walking by. But her rowing partner restrained her. Then she saw why. A pair of identical looking searats were slopping out gruel and water to the slaves, purposefully spilling it on the floor and making the slaves lick it up. After they left, she started to cut all of the ropes on her and all the other oar-slaves. Then they escaped. They broke into 5 groups, each group taking a ship and following behind the ship Treeleaf had taken. They told the oar-slaves that if they wanted to be free, then they should row for all they're worth. They sailed around to the back of the island, where they had gone to an underground system of passageways they had found with the escape of a few other oar slaves earlier that year. They then had taken and made the inside larger, making a huge cavern with kitchens and dormitories. When they got around the back, they cut the rest of the oar-slaves free and all went underground. The new 50 were introduced to each other, while being amazed at the size of the cavern. Treeleaf's oar partner introduced herself. "Hi! We never got to talk before! My name's Rose, what's yours?" She hesitated, then said, "My names Treeleaf, I came from the coast a long way away." Rose then asked in more of a quiet tone, " Oh? Then why were you on that raft way out at sea?" Treeleaf just shrugged and said, "We were forced to by rats." Rose nodded in sympathy, and then left for the dining hall table filed with food. Treeleaf followed example.  
Chapter 2 At Redwall, there was a rush of creatures to get their chores done so they could begin preparations for the Nameday Feast for summer. The abbot was in the gatehouse sorting through suggestions for the name. He had eliminated it to 2 now, "Summer of the Buzzing Bees" and his, "Summer of the Plentiful Honey." He finally decided to combine the two names together. Sapoak, a military hare, was second in command in the kitchens. He was proud to be helping the cook, since he had so many other things to do. He made sure everything was perfect, right down to the numbers of the raisins in the scones. After all the baking was finished, they set up 5 long running tables around the abbey walls, creating a huge running buffet. After they had set those up, they found that they needed 2 more tables to hold the rest of the food. On the tables were honey smothered scones, pies of all flavors, 3 of the moles Turnip 'n' Tater 'n' Beetroot pies, cordials and beers of all sorts, cake by the slice, wonderful flans, 12 different types of bread, and anything else in the Redwall Abbey cookbooks. Right after everybeast had gotten finished setting up, the abbot came up to the stands to make the announcement. "I had a very hard time deciding what name to choose. It was between one suggestion and mine. So I combined them to call this season "The Summer of the Plentiful Honey Bees." Let's celebrate!!!!" Even with his old age he performed an agile jump from the stage and made a fast dash for the food tables. He was then chased by a group of dibbuns trying to beat him there, to claim first rights of the food. After the food singing and reciting was welcomed. After such a meal, any dancing was out of the question, for anyone. A mouse named Rosie was finally persuaded to get up and sing a song. Listen up and I'll tell you a tale, Of a mouse and a pail. It happened upon a stormy night, To a mouse who was having a fright. It was the lightning that scared him most, Thinking that with it would come a ghost. Then there came a big bolt of lightning, Which I must say, was quite frightening. Then he saw his worst nightmare, A white ghost saying, "No fair!" Then he gave one last wail, Before jumping into a water pale. All the ghost was, was an old mouse, Folding white bed sheets for his house! After she finished singing the song twice, the entire group was rolling in laughter. Later that night a mouse named Matthew was asked to recite a poem. "I found this on a scroll in the gatehouse. It's just jabber, but it's a poem." He said. To find the thing that you seek, Look where dibbuns would never peek. Way, way, way, way, down below, Farther than any shovel would go. Once you enter scour the floor, For a red tile, that's the door. Once you open the door and fall, Look around, find the dry-wet wall. Once the wall has been found, Find a green one and turn it around. On the side, peel off the kelp, Now, this scroll will be of great help! After Matthew finished the entire group was silent. Matthew gave a look of embarrassment and left.  
Chapter 3 That night after all the singing had been done, everyone decided to retire to bed. It was near dawn; after all, they did have a Nameday Festival! The next day got started on a slow roll, being tired after last night. Breakfast was a short affair, with scones and a little summer salad. Then they began to start their chores for the day. Foremole got up and said, "Burr aye, et be a burnin' day ou' ere" And it was, too. After the chores had been finished, everyone decided to go into the orchard, beneath the fruit trees where the heat hadn't penetrated. Then they started a lively conversation. A mouse named Amber started the conversation. "So, what do we do now that we're finished with everything?" Rosie Replied, "Whatever we can, but out of this heat!" Then Matthew interrupted, "Last night I had a dream about Martin the Warrior telling me that poem I sang yesterday, over and over. He then told me to use it when the time came." A squirrel named Treebreeze, suggested, "Maybe then we should just wait." This brought a silence, following to the suggestion of sleep, which was heartily taken. ~ Back at Death Island, Saucony was furious of the reports of not only coming back empty handed, but losing their ships to oar slaves! "Yew useless tripes! You couldn't get a scrap of food if it weren't for me! I don't know why I feed yew, yew sea scum! Yew ain't worth a scrap of meat! Now get out o' my sight before I change my mind on feedin' yew!" The entire group of captains fled to the banqueting hall, where their crew was waiting for them. The captains just started grabbing as much food as they could. " Crew, yew better do the same, pack! Cause' what you get will be your rations! We're leaving as soon as we can hoist anchor!" Then a crewmember said, "We ain't got no ships!" ~ At the caves, Treeleaf had learned that the group that was rapidly expanding was called the DRAS, for Death Island Resistance Against Saucony. She was promised a tour after dinner, and now she was trying to find her guide. Once she found him, they started. "My name's Harold, I'm the leader of the DRAS. What's yours?" She replied, "My name's Treeleaf." On the tour, he showed her tunnels, under rocks, that lead right into Death Castle. They could pop up in the banqueting hall, in the courtyard, or in the cove. That night they had a huge dinner set up to impress the newcomers, and did the singing while eating, as everyone there loved singing. Treeleaf was asked to sing. Way, way down in the south, At a very big river mouth. That is where we built my home, A nice little hut shaped like a dome. There we lived in harmony and peace, And my mom always made her pies with an extra crease. And then at night when I went to bed, She'd tell me the story of how all the evil fled. "Everything was perfect until the vermin came back and forced us out to sea. They gave us 2 days to make a boat and leave. If we had had a week, we could have made a proper boat. But then, we where lucky to have made what we did. There were 50 of us because our neighbors were forced out too." The entire cavern was silent, sad because of the tale that was shortly told. Then a young hare spoke up and said, "What's all the moping for? We should be happy! We escaped!" That set the entire party into full action. They forgot their food and got up and danced around to the lively tune of "Otter in the bushes" The rest of the night was danced away to music and happiness.  
Chapter 4  
  
In the Redwall orchard, the beasts were starting to wake. Matthew for some odd reason got up and ran toward the abbey. Treebreeze and Amber, who were very curious at his reactions, followed him. They found him in the abbot's room talking. "When did the letter arrive??" asked Matthew. The abbot replied, "It arrived just a few moments ago." Then Treebreeze and Amber interjected, "Who is it from? What does it say?" The abbot read it aloud. Dear abbot: I hope I'm not taking any of your time. We are but a small family of mice, moles, squirrels, and a badger. Would you please be humble enough to except us into your abbey? If so, so we know, can you please put up a red flag on the NW corner please? Also, to ensure that this isn't a fake letter from vermin, and due to our old age, could you bring a cart or something to take us in? I know this all may sound straight forward, but we are sick and need help. If you come, please just follow the road down to Saint Ninian's, and then on your left you should see a sign, follow these. If you are coming, please send us a letter, of when you are coming. That way we won't leave any signs up too long for any vermin to find. Thank you. Oh, to send the letter, just put it on the north battlements, my friend the owl will pick it up for you. Thank you again, Foyer After all the talking subsided, the abbot made his decision. "I think we should do as these creatures asked. But we will go armed, incase it's a trap. We need the sword of Martin the Warrior. But we do not know where it is. It's a puzzle." Then Matthew screeched, "A PUZZLE! THE RHYME! THE TIME HAS COME TO USE THE RHYME!!" They took a few moments to realize what he was yelling about, but once they caught on, they got started to work on it right away. The abbot started " Now, To find the thing that you seek, Look where dibbuns would never peek. Way, way, way, way, down below, now where is that?" Matthew figured it out, "The cellars! That also goes with the rest of the rhyme! 'Farther than any shovel would go'." They all scurried down to the cellars in such a rush, that they scared Joseph, the cellar hedgehog. They told him the whole story and then started to scour the floor. They spent hours, but never found the red tile. Then they realized that they were standing on a huge red tile. There was even a little piece of rope on the red tile, to pull it up. They pulled and finally with a dull suck, opened to reveal a tunnel. All five went down the hole. When they got to the bottom, they were amazed at the sight they saw.  
Chapter 5  
  
When the searats realized that they had no ships, as they had been stolen by the DRAS, they went berserk. They continued packing all of the food they could, still in an attempt to escape the wild Saucony. They packed and ran. They ran all the way to the other side of the island, about only 12 feet away from the DRAS caves. There they set up a crude camp, hardly any cover, practically just sitting on the shore. They were in for a lot of trouble later that night, for while the DRAS was safe and merry, a huge thunderstorm was moving in. At night, while it was pitch black, the sea-rats had now started a fire. It was a grim blaze, hardly a flame. Then they spilled a jug of seaweed grog on it, which made it become a huge blaze. They started whooping, of course, alerting the DRAS in the caves next door. They sealed up the entrances and became quiet. They continued hearing the whooping until they heard a loud boom that shook the entire cave. They dared to look outside, and found every rat dead, because a huge lightning bolt had hit the shore. Just then, they saw a rat running back yelling, "I found the ships! Just a little a way!" Once he saw the scene, he ran away screaming, but to be stopped by a sharp jagged rock that was sticking out in the dark. That was when the DRAS decided to form a plan immediately. The plan was that at midnight, that night, they would start trying to ram down the door, as a distraction. While in the back, the others would be sawing down a dead tree, to be pushed over on the back wall, destroying it. Then they would attack with full force, and hopefully take over the castle. They had planned to that they would try to escape, so they would bring in the worst 4 of the 5 ships, put a hole in the front, that way, when they used the ships to escape, they would get out way far, then gradually sink. As they were just finishing, they realized that Treeleaf was missing. They looked everywhere, but couldn't find her. Then as they were looking, they were startled by a loud crash at their front door. Almost immediately they saw Treeleaf leading in a badger. Their first instinct was to arm themselves, but then Treeleaf spoke. "WAIT! He is a friend of mine! He was one of our neighbors that went overboard. When I saw that scene outside, I saw some thing out of place. It was him! He survived the waters, and came here!" And she was right; the badger would have been out of place, as he was pure white with a huge golden stripe running from his nose, all the way down his back. He was wearing a green vest and holding a huge double-edged blade with barbs pointing to the tip.  
Chapter 6  
  
In the Redwall cellars, the five were amazed at the sight they saw. They saw a huge stock of barrels, all dusty. "Ho ho! So this is where my grandfer kept all his secret stock of elderberry wine" Said Joseph. Matthew then said, "Now what's a dry-wet wall?" Then Abbot Mordalfus said, "The wall with the barrels! It's wet inside, yet dry outside! The dry-wet wall!" They then had Joseph turn over a barrel with a green lid, and then they saw the kelp. They gently peeled of the kelp to find a scroll on the other side of the kelp, in a secret side-chamber. Matthew unrolled the scroll and read aloud, You're almost there, just a little more, Solve this riddle, but don't start to snore! 2 of 1 7=on 4 of 2 5=world 1 of 3 11=shapes 2 of 4 8=tunnel 1 of 5 1=Prissy 4 of 6 10=ocean 1 of 7 4=whole 4 of 8 9=star 2 of 9 6=friend 1 of 10 3=east 2 of 11 12=your 4 of 12 2=west 5 of 13 13=whoot Now you've got it, Unscramble it! Everyone was in a daze because of all of the numbers. Everyone agreed that it was total mumbo-jumbo. They all agreed however to work on it that night. That night, after dinner, they started. After a long while, Mordalfus shouted, "I've got it! Matching numbers! Look at the last one! You have to match the numbers up and then get the letter! The last one would be letter "T"! After you match the numbers, it's 5 of whoot! T!" Once he got that they got it in time. It was midnight before they finished and decided to go to bed. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 At Redwall, there was a rush of creatures to get their chores done so they could begin preparations for the Nameday Feast for summer. The abbot was in the gatehouse sorting through suggestions for the name. He had narrowed it down to 2 now, "Summer of the Buzzing Bees" and his nomination, "Summer of the Plentiful Honey." He finally decided to combine the two names together. Sapoak, a military hare, was second in command in the kitchens. He was proud to be helping the cook, since the cook had so many other things to do. Sapoak made sure everything was perfect, right down to the numbers of the raisins in the scones. After all the baking was finished, they set up 5 long running tables around the abbey walls, creating a huge running buffet. After they had set those up, they found that they needed 2 more tables to hold the rest of the food. On the tables were honey smothered scones, pies of all flavors, 3 of the moles Turnip 'n' Tater 'n' Beetroot pies, cordials and beers of all sorts, cake by the slice, wonderful flans, 12 different types of bread, and anything else in the Redwall Abbey cookbooks. Right after every beast had gotten finished setting up, the abbot came up to the stands that were set up in the orchard for that's night festivities to make the announcement. "I had a very hard time deciding what name to choose. It was between one suggestion and mine. So I combined them to call this season 'The Summer of the Plentiful Honey Bees.' Let's celebrate!" Even with his old age he performed an agile jump from the stage and made a fast dash for the food tables set up in a running buffet in Great Hall. He then found he was being chased by a group of dibbuns trying to beat him there, to claim first rights of the food. After the food, singing and reciting was welcomed. After such a meal, any dancing was out of the question, for anyone. A mouse named Rosie was finally persuaded to get up and sing a song. Listen up and I'll tell you a tale, Of a mouse and a pail. It happened upon a stormy night, To a mouse who was having a fright. It was the lightning that scared him most, Thinking that with it would come a ghost. Then there came a big bolt of lightning, Which I must say, was quite frightening. Then he saw his worst nightmare, A white ghost saying, "No fair!" Then he gave one last wail, Before jumping into a water pale. All the ghost was, was an old mouse, Folding white bed sheets for his house! After she finished singing the song twice, the entire group was rolling in laughter. Later that night a mouse named Matthew was asked to recite a poem. "I found this on a scroll in the gatehouse. It's just jabber, but it's a poem." He said. To find the thing that you seek, Look where dibbuns would never peek. Way, way, way, way, down below, Farther than any shovel would go. Once you enter scour the floor, For a red tile, that's the door. Once you open the door and fall, Look around, find the dry-wet wall. Once the wall has been found, Find a green one and turn it around. On the side, peel off the kelp, Now, this scroll will be of great help! After Matthew finished the entire group was silent. Matthew gave a look of embarrassment and left. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 That night after all the singing had been done, everyone decided to retire to bed. It was near dawn; after all, they did have a Nameday Festival! The next day got started on a slow roll, being tired after last night. Breakfast was a short affair, with scones and a little summer salad. Every beast began to start his or her chores for the day. Foremole got up and commented, "Burr aye, et be a burnin' day ou' ere" And it was, too. Once the chores had been finished everyone decided to retreat into the orchard, beneath the fruit trees where the heat hadn't penetrated. A chattering conversation was started. A mouse named Amber started the conversation. "So, what do we do now that we're finished with everything?" Rosie Replied, "Whatever we can, but out of this heat!" The conversation rolled around to Matthew who commented, "Last night I had a dream about Martin the Warrior telling me that poem I sang yesterday, over and over. He then told me to use it when the time came." A squirrel named Treebreeze, suggested, "Maybe then we should just wait for whatever it is." This brought a silence, following to the suggestion of sleep, which was heartily taken. ~ Back at Death Island, Saucony was furious of the reports of not only coming back empty handed, but losing their ships to oar slaves! "Yew useless tripes! You couldn't get a scrap of food if it weren't for me! I don't know why I feed yew, yew sea scum! Yew ain't worth a scrap of meat! Now get out o' my sight before I change my mind on feedin' yew!" The entire group of captains fled to the banqueting hall, where their crew was waiting for them. The captains just started grabbing as much food as they could. " Crew, yew better do the same, pack! Cause' what you get will be your rations! We're leaving as soon as we can hoist anchor!" Then a crewmember said, "We ain't got no ships!" This last comment started a riot. ~ At the caves, Treeleaf had learned that the group that was rapidly expanding was called the DRAS, for Death Island Resistance Against Saucony. She was promised a tour before dinner, and now she was trying to find her guide. Once she found him, they started. "My name's Harold, I'm the leader of the DRAS. What's yours?" She replied, "My name's Treeleaf." Harold then stated that they had little time before dinner, so they had better hurry. On the tour, he showed her tunnels, under rocks, that lead right into Death Castle. They could pop up in the banqueting hall, in the courtyard, or in the cove. Treeleaf wanted to see more, but it was dinnertime. That night they had a huge dinner set up to impress the newcomers, and did the singing while eating, as everyone there loved singing. Treeleaf was asked to sing. Way, way down in the south, At a very big river mouth. That is where we built my home, A nice little hut shaped like a dome. There we lived in harmony and peace, And my mom always made her pies with an extra crease. And then at night when I went to bed, She'd tell me the story of how all the evil fled. Treeleaf unconsciously stated, "Everything was perfect until the vermin came back and forced us out to sea. They gave us 2 days to make a boat and leave. If we had been given a week, we could have made a proper boat. But then, we where lucky to have made what we did. There were 50 of us because our neighbors were forced out too." The entire cavern was silent, sad because of the tale that was shortly told. Then a young hare spoke up and asked, "What's all the moping for? We should be happy! We escaped!" That set the entire party into full action. They forgot their food and got up and danced around to the lively tune of "Otter in the bushes" The rest of the night was danced away to music and happiness. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
In the Redwall orchard, the beasts were starting to wake. Matthew for some odd reason got up and ran toward the abbey. Treebreeze and Amber, who were very curious at his reactions, followed him. They found him in the abbot's room talking. "When did the letter arrive?" asked Matthew. The abbot replied, "It arrived just a few moments ago. How did you know?" Matthew replied, "Martin told me you would get a letter and started to say something like, now it the time, to use. but that was when I woke up. Then Treebreeze and Amber interjected, "Who is it from? What does it say?" The abbot read it aloud. Dear abbot: I hope I'm not taking any of your time. We are but a small family of mice, moles, squirrels, and a badger. Would you please be humble enough to except us into your abbey? If so, so we know, can you please put up a red flag on the NW corner please? Also, to ensure that this isn't a fake letter from vermin, and due to our old age, could you bring a cart or some mode of transportation to take us in? I know this all may sound straight forward, but we are sick and need help. If you come, please just follow the road down to Saint Ninian's, and then on your left you should see a sign, follow these. If you are coming, please send us a letter, of when you are coming. That way we won't leave any signs up too long for any vermin to find. Thank you. Oh, to send the letter, just put it on the north battlements, my friend the owl, Captain Snow, will pick it up for you. Thank you again, Foyer After all the talking subsided, the abbot made his decision. "I think we should do as these creatures asked. But we will go armed, incase it's a trap. We need the sword of Martin the Warrior. But we do not know where it is. It's a puzzle." Then Matthew screeched, "It's a puzzle! The rhyme! It's time to use the rhyme! That's what martin was about to say!" They took a few moments to realize what he was yelling about, but once they caught on, they got started to work on it right away. The abbot started " Now, 'To find the thing that you seek, Look where dibbuns would never peek. Way, way, way, way, down below', now where is that?" Matthew figured it out, "The cellars! That also goes with the rest of the rhyme! 'Farther than any shovel would go'." They all scurried down to the cellars in such a rush, that they scared Joseph, the cellar hedgehog. They told him the whole story and then started to scour the floor. They spent hours, but never found the red tile. Then they realized that they were standing on a huge red tile. There was even a little piece of rope on the red tile, to pull it up. They pulled and finally with a dull suck, opened to reveal a tunnel. All five went down the hole. When they got to the bottom, they were amazed at the sight they saw. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
When the searats realized that they had no ships, as they had been stolen by the DRAS, they went berserk. They continued packing all of the food they could, still in an attempt to escape the wild Saucony. They packed and ran. They ran all the way to the other side of the island, about only 12 feet away from the DRAS caves. There they set up a crude camp, hardly any cover, practically just sitting on the shore. They were in for a lot of trouble later that night, for while the DRAS was safe and merry, a huge thunderstorm was moving in. At night, while it was pitch black, the sea-rats had now started a fire. It was a grim blaze, hardly a flame. A passing sea rat accidentally spilled a jug of seaweed grog on the fire, which transformed it to a huge blaze. They started whooping, of course, alerting the DRAS in the caves next door. They sealed up the entrances and became quiet. They continued hearing the whooping and shouting until the silence was broken by a loud boom that shook the entire cave. Once they dared to look outside, they found every rat dead as a huge lightning bolt had hit the shore, attracted by the rats weapons. Just then, they heard the voice of a rat running back yelling, "I found the ships! Just a little a way!" Immediately as he saw the scene, he ran away screaming, but to be stopped by a sharp jagged rock that was sticking out in the dark. That was when the DRAS decided to form a plan immediately. The plan was that at midnight, that night, they would start trying to ram down the door, as a distraction. While in the back, the others would be sawing down a dead tree, to be pushed over on the back wall, destroying it. Then they would attack with full force, and hopefully take over the castle. They had planned to that the rats would try to escape, so they would bring in the worst 2 of the 5 ships, put a hole in the front, that way, when the rats used the ships to escape, they would get out way far, then gradually sink. As they were just finishing the plan, they realized that Treeleaf was missing. They looked everywhere, but couldn't find her. A little after they started searching, they were startled by a loud crash at their front door. Almost immediately they saw Treeleaf leading in a badger. Their first instinct was to arm themselves, but then Treeleaf spoke. "WAIT! He is a friend of mine! He was one of our neighbors that went overboard. When I saw that scene outside, I saw some thing out of place. It was him! He survived the waters, and came here!" And she was right; the badger would have been out of place, as he was pure white with a huge golden stripe running from his nose, all the way down his back. He was wearing a green vest and holding a huge double-edged blade with barbs pointing to the tip. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
In the Redwall cellars, the five were amazed at the sight they saw. They saw a huge stock of barrels, all dusty. Joseph yelled, "Ho ho! So this is where my grandfer kept all his secret stock of elderberry wine." Matthew then stated, "Now what's a dry-wet wall?" Abbot Mordalfus mentioned, "The wall with the barrels! It's wet inside, yet dry outside! The dry-wet wall!" Joseph hurriedly started to search for a barrel with a green lid, and once they found it they had him turn it over and then they saw the kelp. They gently peeled of the kelp to find a scroll on the other side of the kelp, in a secret side-chamber. Matthew unrolled the scroll and read aloud, You're almost there, just a little more, Solve this riddle, but don't start to snore! 2 of 1 7=on 4 of 2 5=world 1 of 3 11=shapes 2 of 4 8=tunnel 1 of 5 1=Prissy 4 of 6 10=ocean 1 of 7 4=whole 4 of 8 9=star 2 of 9 6=friend 1 of 10 3=east 2 of 11 12=your 4 of 12 2=west 5 of 13 13=whoot Now you've got it, Unscramble it! Everyone was in a daze because of all of the numbers. Everyone agreed that it was total mumbo-jumbo. They all agreed however to work on it that night. That night, after dinner, they started. After a long while, Mordalfus shouted, "I've got it! I know something that you don't!" Everyone looked at him severely. He gave in and shouted, "Matching numbers! Look at the last one! You have to match the numbers up and then get the letter! The last one would be letter "T"! After you match the numbers, it's 5 of whoot! T!" Once he got the way that it worked, they got it, but it took a while to get all 13 letters. It was midnight before they finished and decided to go to bed. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 In the morning at Redwall, after a full night's rest, Matthew, Mordalfus, Joseph, Treebreeze, and Amber were as lively as a bunch of bees. That morning at breakfast, they had figured out all of the letters. R-T-E- H-W-E-O-N-T-O-H-R-T were the letters. Mordalfus had created a huge Redhallcurrent Cake, the prize for the one who unscrambled the letters. So far they had come up with the main idea that it started with "on the", but no solutions had come up yet. Just when everybody was about to give up, somebeast came up with an answer. It was "Whether or nott" That was an answer, but there is no such word as nott. They also came up with "Her rotten thow", but that didn't mean anything. Finally Rosie came up with "The North Tower". This was it. It was perfect. It was very hard to find but obviously in very plain view. Now they had to find out how to get up to the top to get Martin's sword. Meanwhile, Rosie had decided to share the prize cake with everyone. Then they remembered the reason they looking for the sword. They immediately read the letter again, and put up a red flag in the NW corner. They also made a letter that would be made for the owl to take. It was a simple and straightforward answer in the letter. Dear Foyer: We would be glad to accept you into our abbey. We may be a little late, as we are searching for a weapon to guard you on your way here. We will pick you up hopefully in 8 days. We will try to work our best, but we may still be a little late. Please respond. Sincerely, Abbot Mordalfus When they got up to the wall, they saw Sapoak on duty, and decided to let him hold it for the owl. "I say you bally old blighters, I just came back from a blimey week search! Now you expect me to hold a letter for a big owl to come and snatch, along with my hand! I refuse!" But they had a bribe they had thought up for just such a case. "If you do this Sapoak," said the Abbot; "We will give you a huge Redhallcurrent cake, made especially by me." Sapoak then profusely denied that he had ever rejected the offer, and took the letter with great dignity. While they were talking with Sapoak, they had not noticed Amber sneaking out of the abbey and down the road. She was the only one that had noticed the pack of vermin disappearing into the woods. It wasn't until that night that she had come back and told the abbot of the danger. "It was a whole army of vermin, they were armed to the teeth, and their leader is obviously the biggest, strongest weasel I have ever seen." 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 It turned out that the badger was named was Borneo. He had escaped from Salamandastron while they were under siege. He had wandered and eventually found Treeleaf and her friends. He had fallen over board when they encountered a storm, which resulted in completely destroying their raft, as it was when they were found. He had swum all the way from the place that he had fallen into the water, to this island. He had rested at night by floating on pieces of wood that were left after other ships had been destroyed in the same storm. It was wearing, but he had pushed on towards the island. They decided after a long discussion that Borneo was to help them saw down the tree in the back. And now whit the help of Borneo, the plan to attack that night was finalized. And, after the attack, they would feast on their inevitable win. However, they did not realize that at that moment, 3 more ships were docking at Death Island. And unfortunately, they were all full of sea rats. And especially dangerous ones too. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 The news spread rather quickly, as by the next morning everyone but the dibbuns knew about the vermin Amber had seen. The abbot, Matthew, who was the abbey warrior and a few other selected ones, held a safety council. For they knew that hardly any vermin ever passed by Redwall and left it alone. It was decided that there would be wall guards posted at every time of the day and night. If anything were to happen, they would yell, "Vimagn" for "Vermin in Mossflower and Getting Near" and that when a bellringer heard it he or she would ring the ringing signal has hard as they could. That night foremole was passing out soup when from the east wall they heard, "Vimagn! Vimagn!" As soon as they had even heard "Vim" they had ran over there and was scanning the area around the east wall. What they saw was a literal fleet of vermin. They had obviously gained more members, as the ground was covered in vermin. However, they noticed they had no weapons, or of any that were actually visible. Sapoak then ran over. He said that an owl of humongous size swooped out of the air, and snatched the letter out of his hand. He then saw the vermin. "I say you bally blighters, go haunt someone else with your faces, scare them away!" And surprisingly they did just leave. For days they didn't come back. However, a week later they came back, and in full force. They surrounded Redwall and started to climb the walls with grapnel hooks. The Redwallers waited until they saw the vermin at the tops of the ropes. They then performed a hacking spree, cutting off all the ropes, right at the bases of the hooks. The vermin went flying straight through the air, cutting the vermin's number in half. The rest ran away in fear, for now the Redwallers had started to throw and sling stones and rubble. They thought they had won the war, but little did they know, that just as they were retreating back to their beds, that again, they were climbing up the wall with hooks, but this time more silent, as they had padded the hooks. The full attack was now on. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
The vermin were rats who were lone wanders, docking where they pleased, and plundering everything. And that was their idea of fun, the next victim, Death Island. And little did Saucony know that his own brother, Halfeye, was attacking him. They had been born as twins, but a few days after they were born, their parents had had a fight. It was decided that his mom somewhere else would raise Halfeye, while Saucony stayed with his father at the island. Their mom had died at sea, trying to find land, leaving Halfeye to fend for himself. He had survived off the ship's food until he eventually drifted to land and formed up a band of roaming vermin. When he heard of the goings of his brother, he set his crew of beasts to build him a boat. It took him three seasons to build the boat and it was so large it could hold his crew and fifty score more. It was a deep crimson red, with a row of spikes at the front sharpened to sink any boat they rammed into. It was so long it had to have five main sails to even slowly move the boat. It included 3 galleys, not including the main deck. For the ship to run at maximum speed, it would require 540 slaves to row 180 oars. However, they only had their crew, they didn't have any slaves. So they set out to get slaves. They never actually found any slaves, as the island where the ship was built had been deserted. In the end, without any slaves to row their ship, they decided to cut up the big ship to make 3 smaller ones they could row themselves. That is when they finally set out. It took them nearly eight seasons to roam around to the island, but when they did see the island on the horizon, they neither slept nor ate until they reached the island. When they reached the island they decided to have a feast on the rest of their supplies. For each ship it was a meager feast, consisting of but a few bowls of skilly and duff, and half a bottle of wine, except for the captains ship. The captain had a full feast with roasted duck, wine, ale, cheeses, and even some fresh bread. He took a liberty upon himself to keep a special food storage for when food was of short. He enjoyed his meal, knowing it may be his last, depending on his brothers personality. He had guessed that his brother would be as evil and crafty as himself, so he told his crew to hide two of the boats, and all of the crew on them. After he made sure that all was in order, he headed up to the castle. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
As the padded hooks thudded over the wall, the vermin started to haul themselves up the ropes. They found it rather difficult, as they had never climbed anything before. The band of vermin had to wait in mid-air as Meade, the abbey badger chased a group of evading dibbuns along the wall. The weasel leader, Skuuler, earlier mentioned by Amber, was first up the wall. However, he quickly retreated back down to his rope as he saw the badger and the dibbuns running back in his direction. One of the rats in Skuuler's horde thought it would be fun to trip Meade. As she ran by he stuck out his sword and she tripped heavily on the ramparts. The badger felt the stinging pain lancing through where the rats sword had meet her foot. She realized that this was no regular trip. Pretending not to suspect the vermin on the other side of the wall, she quickly ran down the stairs into the kitchen, where she grabbed a pot of steaming water, ready to be made into a stew and ran off. This caught the attention of the abbot and some other creatures, and they followed her. When the followers got up to the wall, they saw Meade pouring the steaming water over the edge of the ramparts. They heard multiple screams as the vermin either jumped off the ropes or were killed by the steaming water. Meade watched with grim satisfaction. Hardly any of the vermin had survived. Those who had survived ran off in fear of the badger coming out at them. The abbot was astounded at how cooly Meade had handled the situation, however the cook wasn't so pleased. "I had been boiling that water for three hours for our dinner stew, now we'll have to do with just some cold gruel!" Meade looked horrified, and ran down the stairs yelling for a very large fire to be built to boil some water. Later that night, the stew became a success. Meade herself had added a few ingredients and boiled the stew for an extra hour, perfecting a masterpiece. Not only did it prove a success, but more had to be made to fulfill the appeites of the hungry Redwallers. To go along with the stew that was made, large loaves of bread had been made especially for dunking in the stew. There were many flavors ranging from cheese to garlic and all other types that would go perfectly with the stew, but went even better after Meade had added her special spices. After the dinner everyone started to snack and watched the singing and dancing with great pleasure. 


End file.
